The Indian Ocean as cradle of a new blue economy

When the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was negotiated in the 1970s and early 1980s, India stood with the world’s smallest and most vulnerable states. Alongside Pacific Island countries, India championed the principle that the seabed beyond national jurisdiction should be the “common heritage of mankind”. It was a remarkable moment: a large developing country aligning itself with island nations, not for advantage, but for fairness.

This was not new for India. As early as the 1950s, Jawaharlal Nehru recognised the ocean’s centrality to India’s future, declaring: “Whichever way we turn, we are drawn to the seas. Our future security and prosperity are closely linked with the freedom and the resources of the oceans.” That foresight set the stage for India’s endurin